Another tilted building in ‘jack-lift’ trouble. Kolkata News

Another tilted building in ‘jack-lift’ trouble. Kolkata News

Kolkata: A four-storey illegal under-construction building in Belgharia, which had started to tilt about two weeks ago, further leaned onto a neighboring building on Tuesday morning, spreading panic among residents, who feared a repetition of the incident in Baghajatin, where a similarly leaning house had keeled over last week. The tilting of the Belgharia building was apparently exacerbated after a firm, supposedly expert in ‘building-lifting‘, started work to correct the misalignment, using hydraulic pressure.
Kamarhati Municipal chairman Gopal Saha, local councillor, civic officials and engineers and police inspected the site and ordered immediate stop work. “The structure was unauthorized, and no plan was sanctioned. We have registered an FIR at the Kamarhati police station against the promoter and will demolish the building,” Saha said. The area has also been cordoned off.
The accused promoter, Bulton Das alias Bikku, has reportedly gone into hiding.
A resident said the under-construction building in Dhobia Bagan in the Kamarhati municipality The area tilted dangerously, endangering nearby structures, including a government school. A senior official of the civic buildings department said the construction was being carried out on a filled-up and no plan had been submitted for approval. “The tilt, attributed to soil and foundation failure, was noticed nearly two weeks ago. A Chinese firm specializing in ‘building-lifting and shifting with foundation’ was engaged to correct the misalignment using hydraulic pressure. But the scene worsened on Tuesday morning when the building leaned further, threatening the adjacent Sir Syed Urdu Secondary Education Centre, where over 450 children study,” a Kamarhati Municipality official told TOI.
According to a municipality official, the promoter had failed to inform the authorities before using the hydraulic pressure technology to address the tilt. “Had he sought proper guidance, we would have involved a structural engineer,” the official said.
Residents claimed they had raised concerns about the construction months earlier, alleging the promoter did not follow building regulations, including the mandatory gap between structures. “A written complaint was submitted to Kamarhati Municipality six months ago but no action was taken,” Khurshid Alam, a resident, said. Others from the area, too, accused the municipality of failing to curb illegal constructions. ,illegal construction is rampant in Kamarhati, and promoters often resort to intimidation,” a resident claimed.

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